Gun safety advocates demand action at Wear Orange event

MIDLAND, Mich. (WNEM) - Community leaders, mental health experts, and the Midland City Police Department gathered Friday, June 2 to demand action against gun violence, all wearing orange to advocate for the important cause.

“We’re all God’s children and so when we can all get together, maybe solutions can be had,” said Rev. Jim Harrison from St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Harrison was hoping for solutions to one of the most pressing topics in the country: how to put an end to gun violence.

Great Lakes Bay Region gun safety advocates hosted a Wear Orange event Friday night to honor lives lost to gun violence.

“There’s 120 people whose lives are taken every day by gun violence,” said Kathy Kinkema, a volunteer with Great Lakes Bay Region’s Moms Demand Action for Guns

Those lives have been taken by homicides and suicides.

The Wear Orange movement began in Chicago in 2015 to honor Hadiya Pendleton on what would’ve been her 18th birthday. Hadiya was shot and killed while walking home from school. Now the day honors those shot and killed every day, shows support for their families, and advocates for a solution.

“We often don’t know the cost of it in terms of how impacts families, how it impacts communities, and how they ever find a way forward. So, we wanted to bring that awareness because many times all we see are headlines and those headlines go away,” Kinkema said.

Rev. Eric Severson, a minister at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Midland, also attended the event Friday night.

“Personally, I think religious leaders and religious faith communities, it’s important for us to all come together to provide opportunities for people to come together to find the solutions to gun violence,” Severson said.

The event included a prayer, a candle lighting, and an opportunity for attendees to speak with counselors.

The community will be wearing orange all weekend. Another event will be held on Saturday hosted by the Saginaw Parents of Murdered Children.

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